Morin Delivers a Triple Crown Commencement Address

Date Posted: 06/11/10

Trevor Morin, the 2009 GSBS Chancellor’s Award recipient, gave this year’s GSBS Commencement under the Big Top on the UMMS Campus Green. Fighting back a wavering voice at times, Trevor told his story of an aspiring thoroughbred jockey, his failed racing comeback from multiple heart surgeries, and the dark depression that followed. In the end, it was a passion for science and the faculty at UMass Boston that motivated Trevor to pursue a Ph. D. in biomedical research. “I didn’t have a Kleenex for my tears”, said Trevor Morin’s Ph. D. Advisor, Bill Kobertz. “Fortunately our ‘man-hug’ turned into an avuncular embrace and Trevor’s UMMS hood was surprisingly absorbent.” Trevor ended his address by challenging his peers “not to give up on those suffering in a hole of desperation and hopelessness, but to extend your hand and lift them up because you never know what greatness exists inside and the feats they or YOU may accomplish!” A full transcript and video of Trevor’s speech are at the 2010 Commencement website.